Japanese patent laid open publication (kokai) No. 2006-315511 discloses a vehicle windshield wiper system comprising a wiper motor, a crank arm actuated by the wiper motor and a link mechanism for transmitting the actuating force applied to the crank arm to a left and right pivot assembly that support corresponding wiper arms 7 and 8. The entire wiper system is received in a recess defined under and along the lower edge of the windshield, and the wiper motor is placed under a plate member to keep off water from the wiper motor so that the rusting and corrosion of the wiper motor and pivot shafts may be avoided.
In this previously proposed windshield wiper system, a laterally elongated and curved frame member supports a pivot assembly at each end, and a link arm is attached to a lower end of a pivot shaft supported by each pivot assembly. The crank arm and link mechanism for transmitting the actuating force to these link arms are provided in a lower part of the wiper system. Because the crank arm and link mechanism undergo relatively large displacements in operation, a relatively large space is required in a lower part of the recess, and this creates a significant problem in the design of the vehicle body.